This morning was miserable weather. It rained a lot. We went to reception for breakfast, it's a funny little system, they set up a simple breakfast in the office - croissants and muffins, you help yourself and carry it back to your bedroom. To be honest I was impressed with how good it was and much we enjoyed it.
We had very relaxed plans for the morning and stood on the doorstep ready to leave when we realised that neither of us really wanted to get wet. We're trying to save money so there was no point in heading out to traipse around in the rain as we won't be popping into coffee shops etc. So we stayed in and watched a couple of episodes of House instead and waited for the rain to calm down.
By the time we got into Monterey the rain was stopping, we strolled down to cannery row and the beach to enjoy a bit of window shopping and a look out to sea. Cannery row got its name when it became famous for sardine fishing and canning. In the 1890's they had a huge influx of people from all over the world who came to fish and can.
The waters were full of sardines and at the peak there were 19 canneries and production plants. Everyone believed the fish would last forever even when a few marine scientists gave them warnings and it did finally collapse in 1950's. Now the area is protected, it's a marine reserve and the fish levels are back again.
We wandered up and down but I think we are both a bit travelled out, we didn't read all the tourist signs and decided we should get going to Carmel along the scenic route since the sun we had been waiting for had finally come out.
We paid to join the toll road along the coast and followed the 17 mile coastal route around the peninsula. It is a very beautiful drive and we stopped every so often to enjoy the sea and waves. We finished the drive by visiting Pebble Beach golf course. Apparently it's famous and has held some famous golf tournaments, Edd seemed happy!
We arrived in Carmel and parked up, it was so exciting, we were both like big kids, EVERYTHING had my name on it (for anyone who doesn't know, my real name is Carmel, Carly is just a nick name that stuck!) we had lunch in the bakery and then we ran around town taking photos of every sign we could find. 
We found a Christmas shop and their decorations were disappointing but I did manage to get a Christmas Dec with Carmel on it. We then spent ages in a t shirt shop trying to find a t-shirt for Edd. It's so weird, Carmel is a fairly rare name so I never have my name printed on things and here we were with EVERYTHING covered in my name! I also got myself a big cosy hoody to chill out at home in.
It turns out I can be proud of my name town, it's beautiful, the nicest place we've been in the states so far. A lovely town with lots of art shops and little courtyards with interesting touristy shops. We really enjoyed our afternoon strolling around.
We also made it to the beach which is nothing like the stunning Australian beaches we have visited but it was very nice and lovely to get some fresh air as the sun went down. I was over the moon with my photo of Carmel by the sea in Carmel by-the-sea!!
The only negative I can find in Carmel is the traffic system, the main roads of Carmel are in a grid. Which to be honest isn't only a problem in Carmel, it's just the stupid stop rule that messes everything up. In the states they have this bizarre use of stop signs, at every cross road junction they put up stop signs from every direction, so you arrive at a junction and no one has right of way. 
Technically it's first come first serve so you are expected to remember who arrived, in which order and go in that order but it sort of ends up being whoever is most pushy goes first and everyone else slowly edges out. They use stop signs everywhere, you end up edging over every junction! It makes your drive very stop start but I guess you get used to it after a while.
We spent the evening in another brewery. I find it interesting how most bars we have been in have so many screens everywhere. It would be unusual for a pub in England to have 5 screens above a bar showing a least two different sports at the same time but here that seems to be the norm. 
People tend to eat sat in front of a tv. We watched the baseball match and I decided rather than phase out I would try and see if I could get the hang of the game. Turns out it's very much like rounders and after quizzing Edd continuously for the first 20 minutes I think I started to get the hang of it. 
Edd had a couple of tasting paddles and we had a few nibbles rather than a proper meal as we tend to find 3 full meals a day too much here. I haven't drunk enough water today and have a head ache so I was keen to get us home and somewhere a little more quiet. Tomorrow is due to be good weather which works out well for our scenic drive down the coast.
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